Topline
President Donald Trump on Sunday night attacked ABC and NBC’s news coverage of his administration—claiming it was “97%” negative—and said he supports the idea of the two networks having their broadcast licenses revoked, escalating his fight with the news media, which has involved legal cases and other regulatory threats.
Trump attacked the two broadcast networks in a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, alleging: “ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES,” despite what he claimed was a successful first 8 months in office.
The president then suggested that this alleged negative coverage of him means the two networks “ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC.”
Trump said he is totally in favor of such a revocation, as he again accused the networks of being “biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy,” without citing any evidence.
In a follow-up post, the president reiterated the license revocation threat, before suggesting that “at a minimum,” they should be forced to “pay up BIG” for their licensed broadcast spectrum, an idea previously endorsed by billionaire and former Trump ally Elon Musk.
Trump indicated that such a fee, which is not currently levied on networks using the airwaves, could be “Millions of Dollars a year.”
Before his posts attacking ABC and NBC, Trump falsely claimed he now has the “highest poll numbers” he has ever had, “some in the 60’s and even 70’s.” In the post, Trump appeared to dismiss a series of negative polling numbers about him as “Fake News.”
Despite Trump’s claims of “high popularity,” recent polling numbers from major outlets, paint a much less flattering picture for the president. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week, pegged his approval rating at 40% while his disapproval rating stood at 54% (up two points from July). The poll was taken after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month, and it found that 54% Americans, including 1-in-5 Republicans, believe he is too closely aligned with Russia. All other polls released this month showed Trump’s net approval ratings in the negatives, ranging from -3 to -20 points.